Telephone-switchboard.



PATENTEI) APR. 25, 1905.

C. T. MASON.

TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1905.

No. 787,930. PATENTED APR. 25, 1905. C. T. MASON,

TELEPHONE SWITGHBOARD.

APPLIMTION FILED FEB. 4. 1905.

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f 7m@ p' Ltatented Aprli 25, 1905 `UNTTET) STATES PATENT Finca.

OI'IAItLlS T. MASON. OF SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR THE SUMTEH "ELEPHONE MANUFACTURING- COMPANY, OF SUMTEH, SOUTH (lAl'OLlNA, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

TELEPHONESWITCHBOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,930, dated April 25, 1905 Application filed February 4. 1905Y Serial No. 244,203.

Beit l nown that LOUAHLns T. Masoxai citi- Zen ot' the United States, residing at Sumter', county ot' Sumter, State ot' South Carolina,

have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Telephone-Switchboards; and l do hereby declare the following to be a t'ull, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it 1o appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to drop and jack mechanisms t'or telephone-switchboards, and has tor its object to provide a unitary drop struclure capable ot' being applied to and removed I5 from the jack-strips without dissociating any ot' the parts ot the drop, said drop having spring-contacts adapted to engage cooperatingl contacts on the jack to automatically establish circuit connections between the drop 2o and jack, said drop and jack also having cooperating contacts to automatically connect 1,

` terminals ot' the magnet-coll, and m order to the current ot' a night-bell or other subsidiary signal when the drop is applied to the board. Ilhe invention has for a Vfurther object to provide a pivoted shutter cooperating with the magnet-armature to lock the latter in aty tracted position to hold the night-bell circuit closed. said shutter being' locked by the armature in its retracted position. and means comprising a pendular lever cooperating with the shutter to restore the latter, said pendulail lever havingl a` linger projecting beyond the Ytace ot' the drop to be. engaged by the jackplug or by the linger ot' the operator to restore the shutter.

These and other details of the invention are more particularly pointed out in theappended spccilication and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which *e Figure l is a plan view of the improved drop and a fragment of the cooperating jackcontacts. Fig. I is a rear end view of the drop. Fig. is a longitudinal section ot' the drop, showing the shutter in normal or retracted position.

view ot' the t'orward portion ot' the drop and the cooperating lrack, the shutterbeing m exposed position.

Fig. i is a t'ront elevation of Fig. 3 is a corresponding the operation ot' the plug in restoring the a shutterf, the forward end ot' which is adaptthe drop with the shutter exposed. Fig. 5 is a section corresponding` to Fig. 3, showingl drop. Fig. 6 is a t'rontelevation ot the drop with the shutter withdrawn. Fig. 7 is a sectional plan view oll a jack looking` from below. Fig. S is a longiludimil section through three jack-strips, showing two drops in side elevation applied thereto. Fig. 5) is a plan view ot' one end ot' a jack-strip. Fig. Il) isa diagram ot' a jack and drop and the circuits cooperating therewith.

.l n the drawings, A indicates a drop, which consists ol a generally rectangular trame 7), in which is supported a horizontally-disposed electromagnet a, which is removably secured in said Ytrame by a screw e passing' through the rear ot said trame into the core o l the magnet, as illustrated in Fig. Q. Secured to the magnet z and projecting rearwardly therefrom are two springs fl, which constitute the circuit- 7o permit the ready insertion and removal ot' the magnet with respect to the inc losing casing the end ot' the latter' is recessed, as at b', to receive the projecting springs rl, as indicated in Figs. lL and 2. Pivoted on the cross-pin 1. mounted in the sides ot' the easing is a rectangular armature 1l, the vertical member ot' which cooperates with the core otI the magnet ff, and the horizontal member moves in a vertical plane as the armature swings lor a Lpurpose hereinafter more particularly described. livotcd on a transverse. pin mounted in the lower part of the casing and 1n front otl the lower end of the armature rl, is

ed to t'all by gravity through a slot j in the front face otl the drop A when said shutterf is released. Projecting rearwardly from the pivotal point of the shutterf is a tail having two detentsf" f" extending from the upper and lower sides thercol and so disposed with respect to the end ot' the armature that when the shutter f is retracted it is locked in this position by the armature d, which engages the end ot' the tail behind the detentf", and when said armature I is attracted the detent f on the tail of the shutter engages the lower end of said armature and locks the armature in attracted position until the shutter is restored, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively.

It is to 'be noted that the shutterf is mounted entirely within the drop-frame and that the only portion extending' beyond the same is the end of said shutter when said end is projected through the slot j in the face of the drop A. In order to restore the drop, therefore, there is provided. a pendular lever consisting of a U-shaped frame pivoted at its upper end upon a transverse pin Z, mounted in the sides of the casing so that said lever lies snugly between the sides of the casing in the rear of the front face thereof and in juxtaposition tothe shutter f. The bottom of said U-shaped frarne is provided with a forwardly-extending angular linger/t, which projects through the lower side of the casing, and a rearwardly and upwardly extending finger 7c which passes through a slotted portion of the shutter f and engages a tongue t, projecting from said shutter and formed of the metal struck out of the slot through which the finger 7c passes. It is to be noted that when the shutterf is in exposed position the tongue /L engages the finger le, so ,that when the pendular lever is swung to the rear by pushing upon the forwardly-extending finger the shutter f is given a corresponding rocking movement until the tail thereof catches the end of the armature (Z, as shown in Fig. 5.

As above explained, the shutter is adapted to be restored manually by the operator, who pushes the finger 7c inwardly, and thereby swings the pendular lever /t to restore the shutter; but it is also the purpose of this invention to permit the shutter to be restored by the insertion of the operators plug in the jack B corresponding to the particular drop, and to attain -this object the drop A is so mounted with respect to the jack B that the finger lt" on the pendular lever lies just above and in front of the plug-socket, so that the shoulder on the plug p when said plug is inserted in the jack B forces the finger h backward, and thereby rocks the pendular lever if; to restore the shutter f.

The jacks B are preferably arranged in strips, each strip containing' a number of jacks disposed in horizontal relation, each jack consisting of the usual plug-socket, the plug-actuated jack-springs z5 w, which project rearwardly from the strip and are adapted to be connected with the line-circuit, and the two intermediate strips uw, which are engaged by the respective springs t w when the plug is withdrawn and serve to establish the circuit through the coil of the drop-magnet. The rear projecting ends of the strips u o are provided with upwardly-extending contact members u e, which lie in the path of the contact-springs a of the drop-magnet, so that when the drop is placed in position on the jack the ends ofthe springs a are guided into contact with the jack-strips u fu between the flaring ends u fu thereof', as indicated in Figs. l and 7.

The drops are applied to the jack-strips in the manner indicated in Fig. Sethat is to say, the several drops are slid into position between the jack-strips so that the contactsprings a of the drop engage the corresponding strips u o of the jack next below it and the projecting finger It" of the shutter-restoring lever lies just above and in front of the jack-plug socket. It is to be noted that the drops may be applied to or removed from the jack-drops without dissociating any of the parts of the drop and that the mere insertion of the drop automatically establishes the circuit between the jack-strips and the drop-magnet, and, furthermore, that the drop may be entirely removed from the switchboard without interrupting the line-circuit. Vhere a night-bell or other auxiliary signal is used, it is desirable that the circuit therefor be also automatically established when the drop is applied to position, and to this end there is mounted upon the under face of the jack-strip.

next below the particular drop two stationary contacts fr s', which are connected to the night-bell circuit. Coperating with these contacts r s' are two contact-springs r and s, connected to the rear face of' the drop and having upwardly-extending spring portions projecting forwardly and over the body of the drop. The spring-contacts r and s are connected to spring-strips m and n, respectively, which latter are supported at one end between the same insulating-blocks which connect the springs r and s to the rear face of the drop, as indicated in Figs. l and 2. The spring m is secured at its forward end to a stud m', located upon a cross-pin in the casing' and provided with a set-nut m, by means of which the forward end of the spring m may be raised or lowered. The forward end of the spring n is'free and is pro- IOO vided with a contact which is adapted to be Y brought into engagement with the spring m, thereby completing the nightbell circuit. This latter operation is effected by the horizontal member of the armature d, which engages the forward end of the spring n and forces the same into engagement with the spring m, so that the night-bell circuit is closed as long as the armature Z is held in attracted position, either by reason of the current flowing through the magnet o or the locking effect of the shutter f when the latter is in exposed position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination in a drop, of a magnet, a pivotal armature cooperating therewith, a pivotal shutter cooperating with the armature to lock said shutter in retracted position, and to lock the armature in attracted position, and means projecting beyond the face of the drop tor restoring the shutter at'ter the same has been actuated.

'lhe combination in a drop, ot a magnet, a pivotal armature cooperating therewith, a pivot-al shutter cooperating with the armature to lock said shutter in 'retracted position` a tail on the shutter to lock said armature in attracted position, and means projecting beyond the t'ace ot' the drop for restoring the shutter a't'ter the same has been actuated.

3. The combination in a drop` ot' a magnet, a pivotal armature cooperating therewith, a pivotal shutter having a tail cooperating with the armature to lock the latter in attracted position` and to lock said shutter in retracted position. and a pendular lever having a linger projectingbeyond the tace of the drop, whereby the shutter is retracted.

Jr. 'lhe combination in a drop, of a magnet, a pivotal armature cooperating therewith, a pivotal `shutter having a tail cooperating with the armature to lock the latter in attracted position` and to lock said shutter in retracted position, and a pendular lever having a linger projecting beyond the 'tace ot the drop and a second linger engaging' the drop, whereby said shutter may be restored by operating said lever trom the front o'tl the drop.

5. 'lhe combination in a drop, ot' a magnet, a pivotal armature cooperating therewith, a pivotal shutter having a rearwardly-extending tail cot'perating with said armature to loci( the latter in attracted position and to lock said shutter in retracted position, means projecting beyond the tace of the drop whereby the slmtter is restored, and a signal-circuit and terminals therefor closed by the armature while the latter is in attracted position.

t5. lhe combination ot' a drop, comprising a magnet, a pivotal armature cot'jierating therewith, a pivotal shutter having a tail cooperating with said armature to lock the latter in attracted position and to lock said shutter in retracted position, a pendular lever for restoring the shutter having a linger projecting beyond the tace ot' the drop, and a jack below the drop, said linger overhanging the jack to be engaged by a plug inserted in the jack.

T. The combination ot' a drop having a slot in its tace through which the shutter falls, and a pendular lever pivoted behind the tace ot' said drop and adapted to engage the shutter` said lever having a linger projecting beyond the drop-tace by which the lever is swung to restore the shutter.

S. The combination ot' a drop having a slot in its face through which the shutter `falls, a pendular lever' pivoted behind the tace of said drop and adapted to engage the shutter, said lever' having' va linger projecting beyond the drop-face, and a j acl; below said drop to receive the plug which engages the linger to swing the pendular lever and restore the shutter.

9. The combination otl a drop having a magnet provided with springcontacts secured thereto, a jack on which said drop is mounted and provided with spring-contacts, and means on the jack-contacts to guide the magnet-contacts into engagement with said jack-contacts when the drop is placed in position on the jack.

ll). The combination of a drop having a magnet provided with springcontacts secured thereto, a jack on which said drop is mounted and provided with plug-engaging spring-contacts and intermediate contacts, the latter having flared wings or extensions to guide the magnet-contacts into engagement with said intermediate jack contacts when the drop is placed in position on the jack.

1l. The combination ot' a drop-trame, a magnet removably mounted therein, and contactsprings secured to said magnet and removable therewith, said trame having a cut-away portion to receive said contact-springs.

1Q. The combination ot a series ot drops, jack-strips between which said drops are removably supported, cooperating contacts on the drops and jacks to automatically establish the drop-circuits when the drops are applied to the jack-strips, auxiliary signals operated by the drops, contact-springs on the drops, and lixed contacts on the jack-strips, whereby the auxiliary signal-circuits are also established when the drops are applied to the jack-strips.

In testimony whereotl l allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES T. MASOY.

W'itnesses:

S. (l. Mcllcowa, MURR HALL. 

